Friday, August 5, 2011

Washington County Commissioner Bill Pulkrabek, the man who takes credit for launching Michele Bachmann’s political career, pleaded not guilty to domestic assault in Chisago County Court Aug. 4. He allegedly threw his girlfriend on his bed by her hair, tried to choke her and then dragged her down the stairs by her hair in a Memorial Day incident in Woodbury.

But one Washington County Republican Party officer suggests that Pulkrabek is being persecuted for political reasons and described the domestic assault charges against him as “a mild form of abuse.”

Eric Langness of Forest Lake, deputy chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota Senate District 52, made his comments online on the St. Paul Pioneer Press report on Pulkrabek’s court appearance.

“Who is in charge of this trial?” Langness wrote. “They have 4 counties (Washington, Anoka, Chisago and Ramsey) all mentioned as players in it. Even if guiltythis is a mild form of abuse in comparison to so many others I would question if we're causing all this trouble simply because the man holds elected office.” Langness adds the caveat: “For the record, I'm NOT defending the actions or the accused.”

Langness may not be “defending the actions or the accused,” but his take on the severity of Pulkrabek’s alleged domestic assault is rather odd for a guy who describes himself on his Facebook page as a “trusted conservative voice.”

For the record, the Woodbury Police report states that Pulkrabek’s girlfriend alleged he “threw her onto his bed by her hair … he then pulled her down the stairs and out of his residence by her hair … that she was held down when on the bed and Pulrabek placed his forearm across her neck, which hindered her ability to breathe.” She told police she “pushed and kneed him to get him off of her.”

According to the Pioneer Press, Pulkrabek’s girlfriend stated in her application for a restraining order against Pulrabek that the argument was “sparked by a cat and an Estee Lauder skin-care product.”

14 comments:

Eric Langness is of course politicizing the entire event to protect a political ally. As I've read since Memorial Day I haven't see attemtps by anyone to drag Pulkrabek through the political mud but Langness will surely get us there by inventing motives, providing misinformation and curiously informing us about what kinds of abuse are mild or not mild. Langness would be much better served if he let the justice system grind to a conclusion and refrained from revealing his insecurity about the event by witholding comment.

It's rather interesting you didn't bother to even seek a comment from Langness. Your own article points out that he said within the context of the statement: "For the record, I'm NOT defending the actions or the accused."

It seems that Langness clearly is not backing this possible abuser. If I recall he was found not guilty in the end. So have you bothered to follow up with that public statement as well?

You sound more like the bat crazy one than the people you're writing about.

Karl - It's clear your the one turning the rather intellegent comment into a political event, one of which Langness was clearly denoucing. Maybe you ought to take and look at your own one sided views and open your mind.

Next time why don't you actually fact check. The basis of the blog here is false and many of your facts are untrue. Furthermore, some of your false 'facts' are simply posted in here to try to create problems. It doesn't surprise me that a DFL activist/employee is looking to create problems rather than bring forward solutions.

It is my comment, I stand by it and this will be the last time I post on here as you're not worth the time to debate as you're misleading statements have no credibility.

Aside from you taking the entire comment out of context as I was pointing out the fact his case was being treated severely differently because he is an elected official, hence pointing out that four separate counties were involved. My use of the word 'mild' with this extreme oddity was in reference to the fact this might be necessary in a more severe case of a felony but not the less severe charges he is/was facing.

I clearly made it a point to put that I was not defending him, because I felt the courts would bring justice, if needed, forward at some point. You seem to have boiled over that line as if I didn't really mean it.

I've NEVER had ties with the Emmer campaign as you describe it. As you're well aware, being a DFL activist/employee, as a political officer I participate in many elections but never held a paid or official role on that campaign. It's simply false. I also never held an official or paid position with Bachmann but you seem to attempt to tie me with her too. Both are people I've supported but your linking is far too distant to have any validity or meaning.

Next, unless someone has a fake LinkedIn profile on you, you have listed that you worked as a communications specialist for the DFL caucus. Next, nearly your entire blog is absurdities bashing Michele Bachmann. These two FACTS clearly make you a DFL activist/employee.

Now had you actually called me for a couple quotes you might have learned some actual facts.

#1: I've personally met Bill Pulkrabek once in my life. It was near the beginning of a campaign when I ran for county commissioner and wanted additional insight on how to make positive changes with our county. He was one of many people I met with. Aside from that I have no significant ties with him.

#2: I intentionally made the statement saying “For the record, I'm NOT defending the actions or the accused.” so that people like you would have a clear understanding of my intentions of the comment and the context of.

#3: Writing this blog is making an attempt to connect dots that don't line up. It's even stranger than the distorted City Pages take in several articles trying to point blame at Michele Bachmann for it.

#4: Why does something similar to my resume need to be considered for any of this? I seriously doubt you're trying to give credibility to me but rather connect more dots that aren't in line.

I'm not going to waste time reading this blog further and if you wish to comment directly I'm sure your investigation techniques will bring you to wisdom to reach me by other means. If you're unable it clearly explains your dysfunctional journalist wanna-be ambitions.

Thanks for stopping by, Eric. I take it I can delete the invitation you sent me to connect with you on LinkedIn a couple years ago?

So sorry you feel the need to so forcefully try to disassociate yourself from your fellow Republicans.

If you don't want people to infer you have ties to Michele Bachmann, you maybe shouldn't use a photo of yourself and Michele embracing each other as your Facebook profile photo that appears with every comment you make (see above).

Similarly, if you don't want people to infer you are connected with the Emmer campaign, you probably shouldn't appear in professional endorsement videos for Emmer and post them on youtube.

And if you don't want people to make the mistake of thinking you have any connection to alleged assaulter Bill Pulkrabek, an elected Republican from the district where you're deputy chair, perhaps you should refrain from publicly criticizing his treatment by the judicial system like you did in the comment that was printed verbatim and in its entirety here.

Finally, if you think Ripple in Stillwater is "all about absurdities bashing Michele Bachmann," perhaps you missed the stories about the Stillwater Sasquatch, New Orleans Radiators, Wisconsin ice sculptures or Caton Felix murder, among others.

If you haven't had enough of Michele Bachmann's absurdities, though, be sure to pick up our book on her later this year. You might learn a thing or two about your hero.

Ripple in Stillwater

Ripple in Stillwater is the sole creation of Stillwater, Minnesota, writer Karl Bremer. It covers whatever captures the author's muse at the moment. You can reach Ripple in Stillwater at saintcroix-at-aol-dot-com, or you can follow me on Twitter @kdbremer. If you're wondering about the name of this blog, go here.

Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Award Winner

Ripple in Stillwater author Karl Bremer won Second Place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists 2011 Page One Awards for "Best Use of Public Records."

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